Maison du Coeur
by Querida del Diablo
Summary: After 4 yours of absence, Misao returns to her Aunt's orchard to help over the summer. She's longing to see her longtime crush of the past, Shinomori Aoshi, again. But upon seeing him again, she realises her feelings are still alive and strong...AxM


Hey minna-san!

This is my first Rurouni Kenshin fanfic, so bear with me 3. I still have to learn a lot and the characters might be a bit OOC. I tried my hardest not to though. This story was heavily inspired by the movie and soundtrack of _The Cider House Rules_. It's brilliant, so check it out if you can and turn the music on while listening. Perhaps you'll see where I got the air here from.

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Makamachi Misao walked to the small and cosy farm of her Aunt Gensai at the end of the dusty road, stealing glances at the beautiful green orchard. It had been four years since she had last gone there over the summer to help out with the picking of the fruit trees. She couldn't deny she had missed the place where nature flowered at its best. But things had been busy at her grandfather's now thriving restaurant the Aoiya. She just couldn't be missed.

Misao, now 19 years old, longed to see Aunt Gensai again, as well as Aunt Gensai's cousin Kaoru. Kaoru always helped out in summer, and she and Misao had always been good friends. They could talk about anything, be it hopes, dreams or heartthrobs.

Most of all, Misao longed to see what had become of Shinomori Aoshi. The man had been a local resident of the town. He was Aunt Gensai's apprentice and was to take care of the business after her. The weasel had been around him since she was six, but once hitting puberty she had begun to notice just how great Aoshi was. Still, they didn't know much about each other, and Misao had been able to move on slightly. Somehow, she had never had her first kiss, first boyfriend or first time yet. Which was highly depressing, in her opinion.

Misao walked towards the back of the yard. "Aunt Gensai!"

After a minute or so, an old lady shuffled outside, not fast and agile for her age. A small smile of wonderment spread across the woman's lips as soon as her eyes caught her niece's. "Misao-chan…" she said, walking towards the girl and embracing her warmly. "It has sure been a while. You've become so beautiful." The old woman was visibly moved by what she saw.

"Oh, shut up Aunt Gensai! Get me a boy saying that!" Misao joked ironically.

"Dear girl, they should be saying that, or they'd be mad!" Aunt Gensai replied encouragingly. "Want to come in and catch up?"

"Sorry Auntie, but I was wondering if Kaoru-chan arrived already. I would like to say hello to her first." The Itachi explained, grinning widely. She couldn't help but notice how the stoic and sweet lady from the past had weakened so much during those four years of absence.

"She's here all right; Up in your usual dormitory, Misao-chan. You know the way." Aunt Gensai smiled and watched her niece skip towards the girl dormitory quickly, waving a goodbye.

Misao walked quickly down the road between the fruit trees, making her way to the shed where the two friends had always slept together. She was dying to see Kaoru, and soon found herself running. The first thing she noticed when arriving at the shed was the door standing wide open. Making a quick dash for it, she launched herself at her friend who was unpacking. "Kaoru!"

Kaoru turned around startled by the yell, and almost fell on the ground by the impact of the tackle hug the weasel gave her. She was lucky that the girl's heavy backpack had already been dropped on the ground earlier.

"Oh God, Misao! It's you!" Kaoru exclaimed, throwing her arms around the girl as well. "It has been so long!"

"I know! I'm so sorry Kaoru, but things have been so busy back home and Jiya just couldn't let me go!" Misao whailed, a few tears of happiness trickling down her cheeks.

Minutes passed and the girls still hadn't let go of each other, clinging to each other in content yet emotional silence. Kaoru was the first one to pull back, a watery smile on her lips. "I had almost given up on you ever coming back."

"Kaoru-chan no baka! I'd have told you so!" The other girl frowned in disappointment.

Suddenly, the two were interrupted by footsteps coming closer. Misao turned around and found a red-haired young man standing in the doorway with large curious eyes observing her. He had a cross-shaped scar on his cheek. She immediately realised there was much more beyond that gentle face than she could possibly imagine. And so handsome! Could it be-?

"Misao-chan, you're running behind on the facts. I wasn't able to tell you before obviously. This is Himura Kenshin. He's my boyfriend."

Misao turned back to Kaoru with a look of surprised shock on her face. She hadn't been expecting this. Not at all. She guessed she had somehow always thought she'd get a boyfriend earlier than Kaoru. Time had proven wrong. Now she was about the only one she knew who had never been in a relationship. She felt left behind.

Kaoru was glancing at Kenshin with soft loving looks. It was clear they had a serious thing going here. Misao felt jealousy rise in her, but didn't show it. "That's wonderful, Kaoru-chan." She took a step forward and gave the girl a gentle hug. "You deserve it. How long already?"

"A year. Kaoru told me a lot about you." Kenshin spoke up, his voice mysterious and musical. The weasel had never met anyone quite like him. He was dazzling.

"Aunt Gensai didn't allow us to sleep in the same dormitory though. She had been saying something about space problems, but now I understand why! We have so much catching up to do!" The jo-chan spoke up excitedly.

The Itachi looked at the expectant face of her friend. This wasn't what she would have liked to hear. It was obvious Kaoru and Kenshin wanted to sleep in the same dormitory. Misao was sure she would feel as a second option as a roommate. She was already feeling it.

"Oh, but I can switch places with Kenshin! We can catch up at any time we wish, Kaoru. We've got two months together ahead of us."

She had hoped that Kaoru would at least object a bit. She was to be highly disappointed there though. Kaoru had reacted surprised and incredulous, but had immediately accepted the offer. As soon as everything was settled, Misao picked up her heavy backpack from the floor. Kenshin, who had gone off to gather his stuff from the male dormitory, sped back in and the couple immediately started unpacking.

The weasel left without another word, mentally chiding herself for her disappointment and encouraging herself to make a good impression on the men. She would have to be strong if she were to stay with them in the same dormitory. With the longest strides she could manage, she walked back up the trail to the shed, stopping and looking at the door to gather some more courage. With a huff, she pushed the door open.

"Hello, roommates!" she yelled out, standing in the doorway wide-legged. The following moment was a real Kodak moment. The looks on the men's faces, lazing about or unpacking, one even cutting his toenails, was one of pure dumb shock.

"These are the new rules: there will be no gawking at my legs, my breasts or any other part of my body. This goes for both day and night. I don't want to be harassed at any time. You will not drool over me in pj's, and don't even try take a peek when I'm in the shower."

Needless to say that the Itachi immediately had earned respect. Every man in the room could see that she was not kidding and she wouldn't hesitate to hurt them. This became especially clear when the young woman grabbed a pencil and scribbled down the note on the rules paper.

Misao spotted a bed at the far side of the room, surrounded by a curtain that could be closed. "That'll be my bed." She said, and stomped over towards it and put her bag down, immediately walking back to the door. She placed her hands by her sides. "And I'm soooo not kidding."

The weasel turned around in the doorway and was about to walk back out, but almost bumping into the solid figure standing just in front of it.

Misao's eyes travelled up the well-toned body of the male spectator; He had been watching her act ever since she started it. Her seafoam eyes locked with a steady blue gaze, and a gasp escaped her lips.

"Shinomori-san…"

He hadn't really changed much all those years. But Misao hadn't seen him for 4 yours, and his image had faded away in her mind. She had forgotten how handsome he really was. No, not just handsome. Breathtaking. No-one could've prepared her for the huge storm of emotions raging trough her heart though. A pang had literally gone right trough her heart when she had realised who the figure was. Even though she had moved on since four years ago, Misao just couldn't deny that, if Shinomori Aoshi were ever to show romantic feelings towards her, she'd return to him immediately. Boyfriend or not. One boy wouldn't stop her.

Aoshi nodded in acknowledgement.

"Aoshi-san, you really haven't changed a bit all these years." Misao muttered contently, unaware that Aoshi was able to hear it and thinking the exact opposite about her.

"We should catch up. Let's take a walk trough the orchard." The weasel proposed.

"I'd like that." Aoshi answered, letting Misao take his hand gently and lead him away from the others. They started walking between the green trees. The especially sunny day made everything perfect. Shadows of leaves fell on the two friend's faces, giving everything an idyllic glow to it.

The young woman started chatting about her life, and what had happened these last four years. Aoshi on his part did the same, although he was not so informative. Eventually, the subject of course shifted to their love lives. As usual.

"I've never had a relationship before." Misao confessed, blushing slightly and averting her gaze. "It's strange, but men just don't seem to be interested in me."

"I'm sure that's not the case, Misao." Aoshi told her rather automatically. But it meant the world to the girl walking by his side.

"What about you, Aoshi-san? How has love been for you?" the Itachi immediately changed the subject cheerily, trying to hide her blush.

"My girlfriend and I just broke up." He replied rather uptight. "Her name was Takani Megumi and she lived nearby. She left for the city to go to University. She wants to become a doctor more than anything else."

Misao tried to hide her frown, the irritated wrinkle in her nose and the hurt in her eyes. It was not that she hadn't expected something like this. She didn't expect he'd declare his undying love for her. They had never been that close and four years had still passed. But her mood was sinking rapidly because it was obvious he was still madly in love with that Megumi. He would have no eye for other girls, let alone someone like herself.

They walked alongside each other in silence. Aoshi didn't feel like talking anymore, didn't think it was necessary. Misao couldn't bring up the heart to talk anymore. She was sulking. Her feelings for Aoshi had struck her again, they were that strong. She couldn't move on, she would need an answer this summer and she knew it. She'd have to make Aoshi forget Megumi…

"Let's go back. We should go help and prepare tonight's dinner." Aoshi spoke up after a few minutes of silently walking next to each other in uncomfortable silence.

"Yes." Misao nodded and managed a sweet smile. They both turned around and walked towards the dormitories.HoHHow


End file.
